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1 21 0•822•4503 FEBRUARY 1994
I ' BEX4R. AUDUBON SOCI-ETY
~ . . CHAPTER OF TH_E NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY ~
The Chapt~r's primary goals are to, promote species and habitat conserv.atlon and environmental ecklcatlon In the community.
Wildlife in #the land Down Under" f . ' • ... ....,
·The February general meeting of 131\S will be held at 7:3Qpm, Thursday, February 17,
at t~e Ruble Center. The meetiQg is free.and op'en to the public. The program, whiCh
will begin promptly at 7:30, will feature Dick & Joyce_ Pipes, speaking about their
recent trip to Australia.'Refreshments will be served. There will be a doorprize, too!
Speakers: Dick & Joyce Pipes-educator11, travelers, ranchers, and conservationists­have
· just returned from AustY~alia, where they traveled to locations -"off the beaten
path," photographing wildlife-birds, marsupials, monotremes, and occasional
touris,!s--and discussing with Australians their varied .opini,ons about wildlife, their
environment, and th~ir hopes for the future . . ' . - . - -
Dick Pipes, board member and conservation chair far Bexar Audubon and a member
--••••••••••••••·••••••••••••-•••••••• 1 of the board of the Au~ubon Council of Texas, holds -a B.S. in wildlife management' 1
from Texas A&M and. an M.S. in science education from The University of Texas. He
served as associate superintendent for instruction at Northside Independent School
District, where he worked for 20 years. Joyce Pipes, ari active conservationist, holds a .
B.S. in education from Southwest Texas State College and -ao MA. in education from
Our Lady of the Lake University; She taught arid served as a school librarian for 30
years. They are now retired, living and ranching in Atascosa County, where Dick is pur­suing
sp-ecial interests in wate_rfowl management. -
Who should attend? Those interested in Australia, in travel, _in birds and other === wildlife, and in international wildlife conservation efforts. Students are espeCially ' SAT., FEJl. ~19 OUTING TO, encouraged to attend. · · · . · .
- Conservation Committee at 6:30pm: Come to the Ruble Center at .
MIT~HE LL . LAKE-. -· 6:30pm, Februii~ 17, for the BAS CoRSeNation Committee meet- • ·
MEET '"' BAM ing. Issues monitors are needed. No ex]lerience necessary. Or
ill just "come to listen. 1 : •
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Late winter birding at the
Mitchell Lake wetlands
sh.ould be a treat this
Saturday. Meet at t
entrance gate, on the east
side of Moursund -Bivd,
Public transportation avai(able: The Ruble_ Center is ~t
419 E. Magnolia, (intersection of Carleton, south of
Mulberry, ea~t of McCullo~gh); VIA Route 5_ (St_.
Mary's/McCullough/North Star Mall) stops two blocks
from the Ruble Center:
' 0.7 miles south of SE
..... illiiiii. Make a note of these_ upcoming meeting dates:
~~ia:ii~t: • March 17-Davitf Riskind, director of public land
( Loop 410 (exit 46).
\.__ · Remember to, caJ.I Marge
Flanden;neyer-Lumpe, 657-
1665, for more information
and to RSVP. You may also sign
1 up at the meeting on the 17th.
management, Teias Parks & Wildlife Department, on '
the Big Bend Ranch ••• sites and resource management.
· • April-21-Carol Edwards, Texatci:oordinatrmfor the
Partners in Flight program. . · ·
, • May 19-Wendy Worth, San Antonio Zoo, on lwrnb,ills.
• June 16-Denton Belk teaches us about fairy shrimp~
(Note: programs and speakers are subject to change)
) I I . ~ Page 2 BEXA~ TRAC~t Feb:.;uary 1994 ·
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Plajnting' for, Wildlife Shelter can be pm~ided /in the form of plant. It' likes fulf sun, but cantake light
plants or n~sting boxes for birds, squirrels, to part shade. Cenizo (Leucophyllu!)
· Most of us live in urban or suburban bats, and even butterflies. Hedgerows, frutescens) is also catled. Purple Sage; a!
areas,'where bulldozers 11\Jeled whatever trees, shrubs, arid even brush piles__:_the is very common in the w;Jd South Texa..
was growing naturaUy and, in, the_ process, thornier the better-can protect birds and and · the Hill
destroyed or ran off the native wildlife. If · other· small animqls from predators-, as Country. It is,··
you look-'really look_:_at a cleared or well as provide nesting spots. For example-, us,ually avail­''
vacant" lot, you will see remnants of what there is a .Jarge Red-tip Photinia about able com,mer-
-we destroy in order to build our homes. _four feet from my qird feeder. The birds fly cifl.lly·, but be
You probably don't want your lawn to loo~ into it before going to the feeder to "check careful hot
like a vacant lot, but. there are mj.!ny things ouf' and use it to "stack" them'- to fertilize or
things you can do to attract and sustain selves like airplanes waiting to land. Once overwatef~lftiii:!R4W
native wildlife. Nature is a system and 'on the feeder, the shrub is a safe b~e to ,jt, or it:
needs to maintain its hier(lrchy (the food jump to at the first sign of trouble. will ·get
chain) to survive. If we don't learh to sus- As yQu plan your landscaping this spring, . too leggy
. tain wildlife in our yards, it won't be long consider Wright Acacia, Bluewood .and ov'er- · '
before our children will never have the Condalia; Mexican Buckeye, and Yaupon g r o w n .· . , , · . · .
experience of catching a lightning bug, Holly if you are looking for an ornamental Norma) he1ght IS 4-5.ft., po~1bly to 8ft .. It
chasing a butterfly, or hearing tl)e song of tree or shrub. Wright Acacia (Acacia ,has lovely purple, )?mk, v1o~et, or_wh1t_e
a mockingbird. · wrightii) 'is a semi-eve.rgreen shrub or flowers, wh1ch q.ppear after ram. -~~~e-ta!l
Basically, wildlife nee~ three things: small tree and the most cold-hardy of the. deer will browse the leaves, and 1t IS a food
water, food, and shelter. Water is essential ,acacias; it is normally 6 ft. to 10 ft. tall plant for Theona Checkerspot butterfly
a!ld can be· p~ovided in a pond, a· si~ple (though it can reach 30ft.), and blqoms in 1arva. -'\
· b1rdbath, or a ~hallow J?an, but more b1rds the spring witl1 2-inch white or pa'le yel- Barbados Cherry (Malpighia glabra) i~ a
and small ~mmal~ ~!II be att~acted .to low spikes. The flowers are an important beautiful, airy, small bush, ron~ally 3-4
water that IS runnmg or even JUSt' dnp- , souroe of nectar for bees and the leaves ft., to 9 ft. tall. It keeps flowenng from_ '
· ping. A _re~iiculating PU!llP ~an ~e , are larval food for the Marine Blue butter- . spring to fall with\s~all pink fl?wers, and
mstalled m ~ pond or fountam, or a ~np ' fly. B.luewood CondaHa (Condalia hookeri) has small red bernes that b1rds love.
system C";n.s1phon ,water fro~ an ou~do~r is also know as Brasil or Caput Negro. It White-tail· deer,, coyote, and ·raccoons ~ay
faucet: B1rds aren t ~oo parttcular !lQout normally grows to a height of 12 ft, t
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